Safavid carpet auctions with 176% increase on valuation

A Safavid carpet has topped Sotheby's Masterworks auction in New York, bringing $1.9m

A beautiful Persian carpet that is believed to have been woven during the Safavid dynasty (1502-1732) topped Sotheby's Masterworks auction, which took place in New York on February 1.

The carpet brought $1.9m - a 176% increase on its $700,000 top estimate.

The sale provided collectors with the chance to purchase valuable artefacts created by some of the most important artists and craftspeople of recent centuries

The vibrant silk carpet is decorated with a layered design of spiralling tendrils. The sale result suggests that a similar Kashan Persian carpet, which is to sell at Bonhams London on February 12, is likely to do well when it crosses the auction block.

Other lots that put in strong performances at Sotheby's include an Italian silver-gilt dish, circa 1560-1580, which sold for $1.4m (estimate: $400,000-800,000) and an impressive emerald-set gold jewel, which was recovered from the shipwrecked Spanish galleon Atocha. The Spanish jewel also beat its high presale estimate of $250,000, selling for $410,500.

Many of the rare, decorative items on offer hailed from royal and noble collections, including the Aldobrandini family and the Earls of Harewood. Scheduled to coincide with Old Masters Week in New York, the auction provided connoisseurs and collectors an opportunity to purchase valuable artefacts created by some of the most important artists and craftspeople of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.